A credit counselor is a professional who can advise you on how to handle and successfully pay off your debt. A simple call to a credit counseling agency for a consultation won’t impact your credit in the slightest. But if the credit counselor or agency enrolls you in any kind of consolidation, repayment, or management plan, that could affect your credit.

If you have a good salary and have established income/tax returns, there are lending companies like SoFi, Lending Tree and Lightstream that offer loans at competitive interest rates. Thus, you can take a low-interest loan and use it to pay off your high-interest debts but make sure to stick to your monthly budget so you won’t be spending beyond your limit, and you will be paying off the low-interest loan.

Borrowers also have protections from predatory lenders. Much of these is legal in nature. Many states and the federal government have created laws and rules that payday lenders need to follow. The regulations can cap interest rates, limit the number of times funds can be issued, and offer additional assistance. Read more on the payday laws in your state.

Debt settlement. Debt settlement programs typically are offered by for-profit companies, and involve them negotiating with your creditors to allow you to pay a "settlement" to resolve your debt — a lump sum that is less than the full amount that you owe. To make that lump sum payment, the program asks that you set aside a specific amount of money every month in savings. Debt settlement companies usually ask that you transfer this amount every month into an escrow-like account to accumulate enough savings to pay off any settlement that is eventually reached. Further, these programs often encourage or instruct their clients to stop making any monthly payments to their creditors.

Student loans:The federal government and private lenders issue loans to cover education costs. Federal student loans generally have a low interest rate and important borrower protections. Working in a qualifying public-service job entitles you to loan forgiveness after 120 on-time payments. Income-based payment plans also cap payments and allow a portion of your loan to be forgiven. While private student loans don't come with all these protections, rates may still be relatively low. And if your income is below $80,000 as a single or $165,000 if married filing jointly, you can deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest from your taxes. Because of these perks, you may not want to pay off student debt early.
Debt consolidation: This is a safer option to lower your debt costs. While debt settlement forces your lenders to settle your debts for a lower cost, debt consolidation does just what it says: it consolidates your debts into one loan with a lower interest rate. That helps you stop paying high interest. While debt consolidation might not save you as much money, it can keep your credit score intact and is less risky than debt settlement or bankruptcy.
One thing to consider: If you’re eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the process can be over fairly quickly and with reasonable certainty that your unsecured debts will be forgiven. Debt management, on the other hand, is more of a question mark. The process can take years, and many people who start debt management plans ultimately drop out and may have to consider bankruptcy anyway.
This is an easy way to make the debt repayment process less painful if you're able to do it: Reduce your interest rates. Changing the interest rate on your mortgage requires refinancing -- but it might be worth looking into. One rule of thumb suggests that it's worth it if the interest rate you're likely to get is a percentage point lower than the one you have.
DMP: The fact that you’re participating in a DMP isn’t calculated into your credit score, although it will be noted on your credit report. That said, other consequences of the DMP will have an effect. For instance, closing your accounts will affect the amount of credit you have available and could impact your credit history, both of which figure into the credit score algorithm. To learn more about how credit scores are calculated, visit Learn How Debt Affects Your Credit Score.

Most nonprofit agencies are members of either the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Financial Counseling Association of America. Both of these groups have certification requirements to ensure a standard level of education and quality among counselors. They also require accreditation, in which an outside body checks that standards of practice are being met.

The Credit.com editorial team is staffed by a team of editors and reporters, each with many years of financial reporting experience. We’ve worked for places like the New York Times, American Banker, Frontline, TheStreet.com, Business Insider, ABC News, NBC News, CNBC and many others. We also employ a few freelancers and more than 50 contributors (these are typically subject matter experts from the worlds of finance, academia, politics, business and elsewhere).

Don’t be afraid to have many budget categories. It will help you have a greater understanding of where things are going. Some regular expenses include internet, cell phone, household goods, medical costs, pets, haircuts, car repair, and home repair. Not every item will have an expense every month, but by setting some money aside for those irregular expenses, you’ll be ready when they hit.
Reduce interest rates on credit cards and other debts. You can save money by reducing the interest rates you pay on your credit cards, loans and other debts. Depending on exactly your current terms and how much you owe, you can save hundreds or thousands of dollars in total interest expenses. It is generally free to try this. There is a 50-60% success rate of receiving a lower interest rate when you try on your own to gain better control over your financial obligations. Learn more on reducing credit card interest rates.

The most important message is to DO SOMETHING. I would encourage folks to do the reverse of taking on the larger balances first and paying more on them. Pick a smaller balance, high interest card and pay it off. This gives motivation to get the next one up the ladder in your payoff plans. For the sake of your credit score, remember length of history and pay history go together to determine your score so closing that account may actually lower your score over time. If you cannot trust yourself not to use it, close it anyway.

Both Freedom Debt Relief and National Debt Relief are well-established companies that have been debt settlement providers for several years. Freedom Debt Relief was founded in 2002, and National Debt Relief was founded in 2009. This is important because there’s potential for scams in the debt settlement business. Some companies claim to be debt settlement companies but are really just fronts for collecting debtors’ money and putting it in the company operative’s pockets. The longer a company has been in business, the more likely it is that it is legitimate.
National Debt Relife did nothing but lie and scam me. I asked to leave the program so that I could got to another company. I still had a refund due to me so I submitted the request. I have documentation that states when my refund of $2439.40 will come to my bank which is 9/13/2018. As of today I have not received my refund and the company is holding it so that I am charged more fees. Please help, I have already paid late fees and penalties because of this. I am speaking with an attorney now so that I can recover damages caused by the not returning my funds in the mannar promised.Read More
Ok, so what if I DID max out all my credit cards and couldn’t get another loan? I’d have piles of debt, with little or nothing to show for all my hard work, and payments like crazy. In short, I’d be desperate, but…I’d find another way to solve the immediate problem facing me. So why not just find another way NOW and save myself a world of hurt and a pile of debt…
Put a spending freeze on your entertainment costs for a little while. This means no going out to the movies, concerts, mini-golf, bowling or whatever you do for fun that costs money. Instead, challenge yourself to find free ways to stay entertained. Take the kids to the park, go for a walk or a hike, enjoy a free concert, or look for a free event in your community.
Ask for help from your friends, relatives, coworkers, and acquaintances. I don’t mean ask people to pay your debts for you. I mean ask for help with transportation, child care, manual labor, tips, recipes, and ideas. Ask to borrow tools. Ask handy people to show you how to do things to save money. Google stuff. Just because you don’t know how to do something now or have never done it before doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
While maybe not as widely known, this may be the leading non-profit organization to call for debt management plans, help for paying loans, and other credit counseling in western Texas. They can help qualified individuals refinance their debts and pay off outstanding bills over a period of time using DMPs, consolidation, or so called hardship programs. Services are offered in Spanish too.

A Credit Counseling Session is an overview of your total financial situation, which will uncover ways to provide you with debt relief. It can be done on the telephone, online utilizing our industry-leading tool, or in-person. A certified credit counselor will review all of your income, expenses, and debts. Your counselor will then make recommendations to help you get back on track financially (one of which may be a debt management program). For additional information about our credit counseling program, click here.

To answer your question, though, how defaulting on season tickets would impact your credit would depend on whether or not the organization/team reports the incident/account to the credit reporting agencies. If they report the incident as a collection it will have a negative impact on credit standing and hurt your credit score. It won’t impact current accounts but if the impact is significant and your credit score takes a severe hit, it could impact future loans, their interest rates and your ability to qualify for them.

It’s also worth noting that working with debt counselors doesn’t negatively impact your ability to qualify for new financing. Even if you enroll in a debt management program, you can still get approved for loans, such as a mortgage or an auto loan. You can’t open new credit accounts during enrollment. However, you can get approved for major financing to purchase a home or car or to fund a higher education. This way, you don’t have to put your life on hold while you pay off your credit card debt.

Talk with your credit card company, even if you have been turned down before. Rather than pay a company to talk to your creditor on your behalf, remember that you can do it yourself for free. You can find the telephone number on your card or your statement. Be persistent and polite. Keep good records of your debts, so that when you reach the credit card company, you can explain your situation. Your goal is to work out a modified payment plan that reduces your payments to a level you can manage.

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